I'm a sinner, no better than any other human being. I have no personal bragging rights. My only boast is that, in spite of my many sins and my numerous faults, through God's grace, given in Jesus Christ, my sins are forgiven and I have a new life.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

It comes in The Return of the King, last book of J.R.R.Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Denethor, appointed to be the Steward of Gondor, despairs that his land will be overrun by enemies. More to the point, he fears that unfolding events will strip him of his power and that the rightful king will be enthroned. He's also convinced that his son is going to die. His world, the one he has counted on, is coming to an end and he can't take it.

And so, he decides to take his own life and that of his son. Gandalf, the wizard who looms so large in Tolkien's books, comes to stop Denethor's madness.

[Says Denethor:] "Battle is vain. Why should we wish to live longer? Why should we not go to death side by side?"

"Authority is not given to you, Steward of Gondor, to order the hour of your death," answered Gandalf. "And only the heathen kings, under the dominion of the Dark Power, did thus, slaying themselves in pride and despair..."

We all can name people who have been so engulfed by depression that, no longer themselves, made the tragic decision to take their own lives.

But what do we say of those who, upset that the world does not conform to their particular interpretations of the will of God--interpretations not even shared by their fellow religionists--decide to take their own lives and those of the innocents who stand in police recruiting lines in Baghdad or sit on commuter trains in London?

Aren't these would-be kings who, "under the dominion of the Dark Power" of this world, slay themselves in that explosive coalescence of "pride and despair"?

In the Bible, there are two major suicides mentioned. One occurs in the Old Testament, the other in the New.

In the Old, King Saul orders his subordinate to run him through because, like the kings alluded to by Gandalf, with pride and despair, he refuses to face up to either his rebellion against God or his loss in battle.

In the New Testament, Jesus' betrayer, Judas, takes his own life.

Both Saul and Judas, it's said, "repent" for their sins, although the words used in the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek neither connote the genuine turning from sin and to God that is repentance. Theirs is the repentance of wounded pride, the ruefulness of the arrogant.

Except in cases of depression, suicide is always about pride and despair that the godlike status one desires for oneself has not come or the proud and desperate play for importance and appreciation in death that one despairs of receiving in life. It's an act of towering megalomania and self-aggrandizement. Not only do these proud, desperate people take their own lives, they presume to take the lives of others, in spite of the view of all the religions of Abraham that life is something that only God can give and take.

I'm praying that God will transform the hearts of those considering giving into pride and despair, even as I pray for the protection of the innocents and support the efforts of legitimate governments--including our own--to end terrorism.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Not long ago, a friend told me about a conversation he'd had with a relative. The relative had been given discouraging news about his health.

My friend told him, "I'll pray for you and I'll make sure our congregation does too." The relative laughed and asked, "And you think that's going to accomplish something?"

Thirty years ago, I might have asked the same question. I considered myself an atheist then. I thought that prayer was like talking to yourself.

But in the years since I've become a Christ-Follower, I've seen too much confirmation of the power of prayer to think that. I've seen people's lives changed. I've seen what can only be characterized as miracles, whether in people's physical health, their mental outlooks, or relationships, all after prayer. Coincidence? Maybe. But paraphrasing one observer, I’ve found that the more I pray, the more coincidences happen.

Dr. Larry Dossey, one-time chief of staff at Humana Medical Center in Dallas and a physician who's done work with the National Institutes of Health, has done much to familiarize the public with scientific inquiry into the effects of prayer on people's physical well-being. In literally hundreds of scientific studies, prayer--even prayer offered without a patient's knowledge--has been shown to help in people's recovery from all sorts of physical ailments.

My own observations over the years, admittedly not scientific, is that even in the cases of people prayed for who suffer from terminal diseases and do not recover, there is nonetheless a qualitative difference in their lives before death comes when people pray for them. These people report to me that they can sense people's prayers, God's presence, and the capacity to cope.

In the New Testament, we find Jesus promising that prayer offered in His Name will be heard and answered. Prayer "in Jesus' Name," quite simply is prayer that's consistent with Jesus' character of compassion and holiness and which, like Him on the night of His betrayal and arrest, trustingly tells God, "Your will be done."

Of course, we can bring more than just health issues to God in prayer. God cares about every facet of our lives and there is no aspect of life that can't be improved by the touch, goodness, and power of God.

Last week, a member of my congregation approached me with a situation causing him anxiety. "Could we pray about it together, Mark?" he asked. I put my arm on his shoulders and we prayed. Just putting his anxieties in God's hands made him feel better, he reported. "Now," he said, "I know things are going to be all right."

Skeptical? That's understandable. But, I invite you to tell God about your skepticism and then dare to pray about your concerns for others and for yourself.

In his book, Prayer is Good Medicine, Larry Dossey tells an interesting story:

“A few years ago I was having dinner with Paulos Mar Gregorios, who was then president of the World Council of Churches. Across the table was a contentious young woman who was intent on picking an argument with him. Deliberately trying to provoke a confrontation, she proclaimed, "I don't believe in God!" Dr. Gregorios responded with a compassionate, loving smile, and said gently, "Don't worry. If you need to, you will!" Prayer is like that. When we need to pray, we will.”

Or maybe, if we won't, someone will have the same compassion for us that my friend had for his sick relative and they will pray for us.

Not long ago, a friend told me about a conversation he'd had with a relative. The relative had been given discouraging news about his health.

My friend told him, "I'll pray for you and I'll make sure our congregation does too." The relative laughed at my friend and asked, "And you think that's going to accomplish anything?"

Thirty years ago, I might have asked the same question. I considered myself an atheist. I thought that prayer was like talking to yourself, nothing but words ricocheting off the ceiling.

But in the years since I've become a Christ-Follower, I've seen too much confirmation of the power of prayer to think that. I've seen people's lives changed. I've seen what can only be characterized as miracles, whether in people's physical health, their mental outlooks, or relationships, all in response to prayer.

Dr. Larry Dossey, one-time chief of staff at Humana Medical Center in Dallas and a physician who's done work with the National Institutes of Health, has done much to familiarize the public with scientific inquiry into the effects of prayer on people's physical well-being. In literally hundreds of studies, prayer--even prayer offered without a patient's knowledge--has been shown to help in people's recovery from all sorts of physical ailments, including heart disease.

My own observations over the years, admittedly not scientific but anecdotal and experiential, is that even in the cases of people prayed for who suffer from terminal diseases and do not recover, there is nonetheless a qualitative difference in their lives before death comes. These people report to me that they can sense people's prayers, God's presence, and the capacity to cope.

In the New Testament, we find Jesus promising that prayer offered in His Name will be heard and answered. Prayer "in Jesus' Name," quite simply is prayer that's consistent with Jesus' character of compassion and holiness and which, like Him on the night of His betrayal and arrest, trustingly tells God, "Your will be done."

Of course, we can bring more than just health issues to God in prayer. God cares about every facet of our lives and there is no aspect of life that can't be improved by the touch, goodness, and power of God.

Last week, a seven-week old from our congregation was rushed to the hospital. It was feared he might be suffering from spinal meningitis. In hopes that it was meningitis of the viral variety, doctors immediately put him on anitbiotics. I went to the hospital one day and found him sleeping placidly in his mother's arms. We prayed together before I left. Later, I spoke with his mom. "Right after we prayed, he woke up and was so happy," she told me. "I think it's all those prayers." Yes, I'm sure the antibiotics helped. But so, I feel certain, did the prayers.

Later, a member of my congregation approached me with a situation causing him anxiety. "Could we pray about it together, Mark?" he asked. I put my arm on his shoulders and we prayed. Just putting his anxieties in God's hands made him feel better, he reported. "Now," he said, "I know things are going to be all right."

Skeptical? That's understandable. But, I invite you to tell God about your skepticism and then dare to pray about your concerns for others and for yourself.

A few years ago I was having dinner with Paulos Mar Gregorios, who was then president of the World Council of Churches. Across the table was a contentious young woman who was intent on picking an argument with him. Deliberately trying to provoke a confrontation, she proclaimed, "I don't believe in God!" Dr. Gregorios responded with a compassionate, loving smile, and said gently, "Don't worry. If you need to, you will!" Prayer is like that. When we need to pray, we will.

Or maybe, if we won't, someone will have the same compassion for us that my friend had for his sick relative and they will pray for us.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Last Wednesday, our family--our son and his girlfriend, our daughter and her husband, my wife, and I--flew to Washington, D.C. for the day. It's a perk of the guys' jobs with an airline.

We went to the Supreme Court building and the Smithsonian's Museum of American History this trip. At the Court, we saw a video loop presentation on the Court and how it functions. Included were interviews with the current justices. Among the topics discussed on the loop was the weekly conferences where the justices discuss pending cases.

In one interview, Justice Clarence Thomas reveals that before attending those conferences, he jots down how he intends to vote on each case. When questioned, he says that he hardly ever changes his mind as a result of conferring with his fellow justices.

For some, this statement will be consoling, proof that Thomas' strict constructionist principles remain intact.

For others, it will be an admission of their worst fears about the justice, confirmation of a "don't confuse me with the facts" mentality.

I shy away from drawing either conclusion.

Through the years, I've served on any number of boards and committees. Usually, prior to pending meetings where important decisions are to be made, other board or committee members and I have received documentation on which to base our decisions. I usually review such materials and form at least some preliminary ideas about how I will vote. The subsequent meeting may surface ideas I hadn't thought of or highlight facts I hadn't considered. But if given sufficient documentation, that rarely happens.

It seems to me that Thomas' approach to "conference" isn't very different from that.

But of course, a person does have to be careful about what principles they elevate to preeminence in their decision making. Often, in the law as in life, choices must me made not so much between the bad and the good as between the good and the good or the better and the best. Principles that we hold in lofty regard may, in certain circumstances, have to give way to some other principle or imperative.

This is precisely why so many rulings of the Court, no matter where they tack philosophically, rile people up: Good people representing good causes get told, "No." And no matter what our ages, none of us like that answer.

But here's what I believe: All the justices on the Court are human; from their experiences with the law and with life, I would expect them to have predispositions about the cases they adjudicate. If they don't, they have no business being on the Court!

I'll bet, whether they admit it or not, all nine justices--and not just Justice Thomas--go to conference with a fairly clear fix on how they're going to vote.

This is as it should be. The justices should be secure enough in themselves to have ideas and be willing to "go to the mattresses" for them. They should have some strong notions about the Constitution and how it is to be applied. They should have also studied the specific cases at hand sufficiently by the time they go to conference that they have formed at least some preliminary ideas about them. In short, they should be wise, experienced, articulate, and strong-willed people, no matter what their judicial philosophies.

Real people steeped in the law, secure with themselves, aware of the realities of ordinary people's lives, willing to fight for what they think is right, and able to accept defeat--these are the five attributes we need in every justice on the Court.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Jesus is at His subversive best in that part of Matthew's Gospel usually called The Sermon on the Mount. In a series of clipped images, Jesus portrays not how to be happy, but what happy people look like.

Below are links to a series of messages I presented on Jesus' sermon. The series is called The Happiness Project. In a few days, I'll pick this series back up again with thoughts on the balance of Matthew, chapter 5, which is really something of an explication of the points that Jesus makes in the first twelve verses.

The judicial consequences of Justice O'Connor's retirement have been somewhat exagerrated. Ralph Neas of People for the American Way [a liberal group] has said that if the court reflected the views of its most conservative members--Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas--there would be a legal revolution restricting abortion, civil rights, environmental protection and privacy. Whether that is true or not, replacing Justice O'Connor will not bring it about.

Justice O'Connor was a moderate conservative. In the 21 cases this term that ended in five-to-four decisions, she voted on 16 occasions with Messrs Scalia, Thomas, and Chief Justice Willian Rehnquist. She has usually been with them in states' rights cases, voted with them in Bush v Gore and this term supported their dissent in Kelo v City of New London (where the court upheld local-government powers to make compulsory purchases of private property).

The main difference between her and the three harder-line conservative justices is that she tended to base her decisions on the narrow facts of a case, rather than on sweeping legal principle, leaving room to change her mind later. So if she were replaced by a doctrinaire conservative, there would be a change, but not necessarily a dramatic one.

Clearly, there are different kinds of conservative. The nomination that President Bush sends to Capitol Hill is likely to have a lasting effect on what sort of conservative the Republican Party is going to be in the future. Some potential nominees could endanger the Republican coalition. Others could totally turn off those of more moderate leanings or those who think that conservative includes, but isn't confined to, reversing Roe v Wade. On the other hand, the President's nomination could prove to help the Republican Party.

Those are political consequences, though. Judicially, I'm inclined to agree with The Economist. Even a doctrinaire conservative on the court will be dealing with thirty-two years of precedent when it comes to abortion, assuming the new justice is confirmed in time for the fall term. That person will likely lead the charge for a slow reversal, rather than a wholesale undoing of Roe. There is too much law to reverse in one fell swoop.

The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor's liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.

[Before the message today, I explained that the scholarship on this passage shows that there are two "windows" through which we can view it. Through one window, we see it as a story about the different ways in which we can receive the word about Jesus. Through a second window, the one through which we'll be looking at the parable here, it's a story of how, empowered by Jesus, we scatter this word.]

This past week, I read the true story of Mike Herman, a Saint Louis Cardinals baseball fan who says that from the time he was a little boy, he went to ball games hoping that he could catch a souvenir baseball. Grown to adulthood, he’d go to batting practices before games just to have a shot at getting a big-league ball.

Back in the mid-90s, during one batting practice, Herman got to know a five year old boy named James. James was on the same quest for a souvenir and after a time, Herman found himself telling James “he could have my ball if I caught one.”

The promise may have been hollow in light of the fact that Mike Herman had been unsuccessful at retrieving a big league baseball for twenty-eight years!

But, five minutes later, Herman explains, “I caught a ball, and yes, I gave it to James.” “I wonder,” Mike Herman asks, “how often God waits to give us something until we are willing to give it away?”

Today, Jesus tells one of His most famous stories. It’s called the Parable of the Sower. You know it well. A farmer, representing Christ or you and me, with Christ working in us, sows or scatters seeds. Farmers planted seeds back in Jesus’ day by simply tossing them everywhere. This method of farming wasn’t so efficient, as you can imagine. Even top-notch seeds flung in the wrong places aren't likely to grow.

Some of the seeds, Jesus says, fell along a path and birds quickly ate them up.

Other seeds fell onto rocky ground and warmed by the stones, sprouted quickly and died just as quickly for lack of soil depth and the sun being able to fry them, roots and all.

Another bunch of the seeds fell among weeds and thorns. As the thorns grew, they choked the life out of the good seeds.

Finally, one last batch of seeds fell into good soil and Jesus says that they gave yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.

To show you how impressive that is, I read this past week that current evidence indicates that in first century Judea where Jesus lived, harvests of four- to tenfold were the norm. Harvests yielding fifteen times the seeds sown were considered really great. So, the seeds that landed in good soil in Jesus’ story gave a bumper crop!

Later, Jesus explained His story. The seeds are the message about Him, the good news that we can have right relationships with God and live with Him forever when we turn from trying to live life our ways, turn from sin and death, and instead, trustingly turn to Christ for forgiveness and new life.

As I mentioned earlier, the sower in the story is Christ, Who poured out His life on a cross for us and it’s also those of us who follow Him and are called to share His message with others.

One commentator tells us that the different spots the seeds in Jesus’ story lands represents different sorts of reactions we may receive when we share the Good News of Jesus. We may encounter people who simply refuse to listen; those who respond in a superficial way, who will be enthusiastic about Christ at first and then leave Him behind; those who allow themselves to get preoccupied with other things like money or family worries; and finally, those who receive the Good News of Jesus down in their marrow and live for Him from that moment forward.

Jesus is telling us that the Word about Him is always a good seed, whether people let it take root in their lives or not! Like Jesus, we’re to keep spreading the word about Jesus all around us, no matter what reaction we may get.

Some of you have heard me tell the story before of an evening back when I was in seminary when Ann and I had dinner with two other couples, people with whom we’d gone to high school. We were being silly when the conversation turned serious. “What do you think needs to happen for a person to go to heaven?” one person asked me.

I have to tell you that I was afraid. I wanted these people to accept me and I was fearful of being written off as some religious fanatic. What would they think of me if I said that getting to heaven involved simply entrusting your life to Jesus Christ and letting Him be their Lord and King?

So, instead of telling them this truth, I made a joke. About a year-and-a-half later, the man who asked that question of me left his marriage.

I have often wondered what might have happened had I planted the seed of Jesus’ message in his life that night. Maybe nothing. Maybe his heart and will would have proved to be bad soil. But I’ll never know this side of heaven because I chickened out and failed to scatter the good seed all around!

You see, I was waiting for a "better time." I was hoping that maybe later, I would have a little more courage and "success." But Jesus tells us that we should keep scattering His Word, whether it’s convenient or even if we see little prospect of our message being welcomed. By the grace of God, I hope never to repeat that mistake again.

If we pass up chances to scatter the Word about Jesus, we’re in good company, by the way. In a recent TV interview, I heard Billy Graham tell a story from his life that I’d almost forgotten. He was at the dais next to President Kennedy at the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast in 1963. Some time before, they’d shot a round of golf together and Kennedy had had a raft of questions about God, Christ, salvation, and the Bible. Kennedy was trying to understand how a person gets to heaven. Graham explained that it was purely a gift by God to those with faith in Christ. Kennedy wanted to know more. But their round of golf ended and their schedules demanded that they go elsewhere.

At the prayer breakfast, the President turned to Graham and asked if after it was over, the evangelist would accompany him back to the White House. Mr. President, Graham explained, I have a cold and a fever. I really don’t feel up to it. Could we do it another time? Kennedy agreed. Not long thereafter, Kennedy traveled to Dallas, where he was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Graham has often regretted that he didn’t go with the President that day and has always wondered what the President wanted to discuss. It might have been one more opportunity to share the seed--the Word about Jesus--with John Kennedy.

But this morning, my purpose is to encourage you to live so that you never have the regrets that both Billy Graham and I have over failing to scatter the message about Jesus! One of my favorite passages of Scripture is First Peter 3:15, where we're told, "Be prepared always to give an account for the hope that is in you, but do it with gentleness and reverence." In other words, 'Don't people over the head with your message; but never be afraid to share it! Just as it gives hope to you, it can give hope to others!'

You see, people have a hunger to be reconciled with God, to have Him in their lives, whether they know it or not. In several interviews I heard from survivors of the terrorist bombings in London this past week, people said that many passengers, fearing that their lives would end, cried out to God for help. When we share the Word about Jesus, we’re telling them that in every time of need and through every day of their lives, they can call to the God of love and goodness we know through Jesus and do it with confidence and hope, knowing that He is with them and able to take the world's worst circumstances and turn them into heaven's best.

Keep scattering the seed of the message about Jesus, whether it seems to make a difference or not. Just as you can’t see the ways in which seeds are taking root beneath the soil, we sometimes can’t see the ways in which the Word about Jesus is taking hold and transforming people’s lives.

Mike Foss, a Lutheran pastor, tells the story of a friend of his. “She had been struggling in her work for a number of years. Then a dream began to emerge. At first it was just a day dream for when work was really boring or difficult. Then, it became an interest and she looked into the possibilities of this great change. But she just didn't think she could do it. It seemed too great a leap from what she was doing to what she really wanted to do.

“Then, she came to church one Sunday. Somehow in the message that morning, God spoke to her. The Spirit of God provoked her to dare the dream. On Monday morning, she made a phone call, then another, then another. We met at a coffee shop by chance. She shared with me what she had heard in the sermon I'd given weeks ago. I couldn't even remember saying what she heard! But it was the Holy Spirit speaking and her dream became a reality. She had changed jobs. Her sense of God's leading in her life would never be the same again. The joy she told me she knew was incredible.”

The miracle in that woman’s life is duplicated countless times each day because believers in Jesus dare to care for others in Christ’s Name and dare to share the word about Christ with them.

Are you looking for blessings in your life? Then resolve to be a blessing to others; bless them with the word about Christ! Let the seed of God's Word grow strong within you by giving it away.

You just don’t know what blessings God is willing to give you when you are willing to give them away. Resolve to do it this week: To spread the message of Jesus and then trust God to do good things with the seeds you scatter!

[Mike Foss tells the true story of his friend at changingchurch.org; Mike Herman's true story is contained in the book, Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion; and Billy Graham tells his true story of President Kennedy in his autobiography]